a look back at hamilton's time with Mercedes

2013-2016: A New Team and a Tense Rivalry

Hamilton signed with Mercedes for the 2013 season alongside Nico Rosberg. The move was originally taken as a bit of a gamble as the team themselves didn’t have much recent success. The Brit won his first victory with Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix and finished the year in fourth in the standings.

2014 saw the beginning of an incredibly successful time for Hamilton with 16 of the 19 races that season being won by Mercedes, with Hamilton taking 11 of those victories against teammate Rosberg. It was an intense season-long battle for the title between the two Mercedes drivers, the eventual outcome being Hamilton taking his second career F1 title at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

2015 was another dominating season for Hamilton with ten race wins and podium finished 17 teams over the course of the season. The Rosberg rivalry intensified throughout the season ending in Hamilton once again clinching the title with three races left. Following his successful season, Hamilton extended his contract with Mercedes for an additional three years.

2016 was another action-packed season for the Brit but unfortunately not a title winning one. Hamilton lost the title to Rosberg by just five points after some poor starts early in the season and a significant engine blowout at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Mercedes had maintained the policy in which they would let their drivers fight freely on track without initiating team orders and this led to several heated exchanges between the Mercedes pair. Ultimately, it was Rosberg who came out on top this time and immediately announced his retirement from the sport.

Image via mercedesamgf1.com

 2017-2020: Seven-time World Champion in the Making

Sebastian Vettel became Hamilton’s closest rival during the 2017 season with a tense title fight between the Mercedes driver and the Ferrari driver. Hamilton took the record for all-time most pole positions with 11 pole positions that season. Hamilton was able to secure his fourth world title in Mexico.

2018 marked the year that both Hamilton and Vettel would go head-to-head for their respective fifth world titles. The season was billed as the “Fight for Five”. The pair were unexpectedly ahead of the rest of the field for the most part of the season, but a combination of driver and mechanical errors saw Vettel’s chance of a fifth title slip away. Hamilton set yet another record of most points scored in a single season and once again took the title in Mexico. Hamilton signed another two-year deal with Mercedes taking him to the end of the 2020 season.

2019 was another dominating season for Lewis Hamilton as he led the drivers’ championship for most of the season. He scored 11 wins that season, with 17 podium visits and 5 pole positions. He finished the season with 413 points which is the highest points tally of all time. He took the title 87 points ahead of his rival and teammate Valterri Bottas.

Hamilton took his seventh world title in 2020, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record. With a shortened season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Hamilton won 11 of the 17 races and broke Schumacher’s record of 91 race wins. He took the championship at the Turkish Grand Prix with three races to spare and finished the season 124 points ahead of his closest rival, once again Valterri Bottas.

Image via formula1.com

2021-2023: Verstappen Battles and Mercedes Struggles

The 2021 season started with Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen emerging as title favourites. During the season, Hamilton became the first driver to take 100 pole positions and 100 race wins. Going into the final race of the season, both Hamilton and Verstappen were equal on points. Hamilton led much of the race but after a safety car Verstappen was able to overtake Hamilton on the last lap and finish the race in 1st to take his first world championship. The championship win for Max Verstappen was marred by controversy but overall, the season long battle between the pair was highlighted as one of the most hard-fought battles in sporting history.

2022 was the season that saw Mercedes struggle significantly due to the new technical regulations that forced changes to the car. Both Hamilton and new teammate George Russell struggled with porpoising of the car early in the season and this significantly Impacted the team’s performance. By the end of the tough season for Hamilton, he had achieved nine podiums but for the first time in his Formula One career he failed to achieve a race win or a pole position. He finished 6th in the Drivers’ Championship, 35 points behind his teammate.

At the start of the 2023 season Hamilton described the team as “not where they wanted to be” after testing so there was a concern for the competitiveness of their season. He achieved six podiums and finished the season in 3rd overall. He signed another 2-year deal that should have seen him through to the end of the 2025 season.

So, with ten years and six championships with the Mercedes team it’s been a long ride for the pairing, and it’ll be strange to see Lewis Hamilton in a different set of colours. The news certainly sets out an exciting prospect for the 2025 season as we look forward to see Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari team.